Destroying Eufaula’s “Sweet Home Alabama” Road is Wrong

Anybody who has visited the City of Eufaula left there having seen a beautiful area of the City that is a storied part of its historic past. The houses on the street that leads into town on the northern side are both beautiful and historic. The beautiful shorter mansion is only one of them. Sadly, Eufaula is under attack and the attack is being waged by none other than the State of Alabama. An ill-advised highway project, if allowed to proceed, will literally destroy this historically important part of Eufaula. At press time, Alabama officials had agreed to delay a highway widening project through Eufaula’s historic district through the end of the year.

That was to give U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson time to consider a lawsuit filed by Eufaula officials trying to stop the project. Judge Thompson issued an order saying he would rule on Eufaula’s request for a temporary restraining order on Dec. 31. The state Department of Transportation agreed to delay construction until the judge can rule. The department plans to spend nearly $1.3 million to widen U.S. 431 from two lanes to four lanes through Eufaula’s historic district. The project will permanently damage the historic district and the entire city. Hopefully, this project can be stopped.